Improvement in coffins



UNITED STATES HENRY D. SPRAGUE, OF PORTLAND, MAINE.

IMPROVEMENT IN COFFINS Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 56,287, dated July 1K0, 1866.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY D. SPRAGUE, of Portland, in the county of Cumberland and State of Maine, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Oofns; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others to make and use my invention, making reference to the accompanying drawings, constituting part of this specification, in which is represented a coffin ot' common construction with Iny improvement illustrated therein.

My invention consists-in attaching to the inner or lower side of the lid of a coftin a mirror, and this in combination with certain other parts hereinafter described.

In the accompanying illustration of acofn, A shows the mirror attached to the inner or lower `side of the lid thereof. The mirror is set in any of the methods common for such a purpose.

By means of the brace b, bearing upon the two knobs orV pins e o, the lid is inclined slightly forward in order that the reflection in the mirror from the interior of the coftin will be somewhat raised. By this means the face of the deceased, reflected in the mirror, may be seen without standing immediately over the open coffin, but in passing by the head thereof. When a considerable concourse of people are assembled the utility and convenience ot' this improvement become apparent. The brace is removable from 'the pins e e. Y

The lid is made with a joint or hinge at f, so as to fold backward, as indicated in the drawings, when raised.

My invention is applicable to any description of coffin which has a lid that is raised from the top thereof in avertical plane in the manner shown in the drawings.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The attachment of a mirror to the lower side of the described kind of coflin-lids, as'and for the purposes set forth.

2. The combination of the jointed lid, brace, and mirror, in the manner and for the purposes set forth.

HENRY D. SPRAGUE. Witnesses:

WILLIAM H. CLIFFORD, GEORGE F. CLIFFORD. 

